Today’s Mt. Express published a letter written by Barbara and Spence Browning, which outlines BCSD Superintendent Lonnie Barber’s compensation package. The letter goes on to question such a generous compensation package while SAT scores have been solidly average while district spending has been 2 to 3 times what other districts spend.
Also in today’s Mt. Express, Jim Bronson of Sun Valley writes regarding the salaries of state, county and local public servants. In his letter, Bronson states, “It is time for citizens of Blaine County to wake up and understand how elected leaders of the cities of Sun Valley and Ketchum, the Blaine County school board and Blaine County commissioners are spending our tax dollars.”
Parents of Blaine County Students 
Hey, getting money for pet projects is no problem up here; just put another levy on the property taxes we pay…$20 per $100,000 value here, $30 per $100,000 there…sure it eats away at your discretionary income but like the frog in the pan of hot water who doesn’t realize the heat because it’s gradually increased…until it’s too late…
The people who don’t pay property tax don’t care; the second-home owners in many cases aren’t aware of it, and in any case, can’t vote anyway. So local governments think they have a virtually bottomless well to keep drawing from. Accountability? Don’t make me laugh. We’ve got to stop electing school board members who don’t take a pledge of fiscal responsibility with school results such as SAT scores playing a significant role. Graduation rates are meaningless as long as Barber believes in keeping students in school regardless of illiteracy. Political correctness and slogans be damned…time we found out just how many of our WRHS students read and write below a 9th grade level!
Mr. Bronson is absolutely right about citizens waking up and smelling this foully brewed coffee. It’s all about apathy and, to a lesser degree, self-interest.
BTW, has the Mt Express ever met a levy they didn’t approve of?